Blackpool: From the courts 18-01-17

Here is a round-up of some of the cases at Blackpool Magistrates Court.

Jason Proctor, 33, burglary

A bungling burglar was caught after his name was found on a receipt he left at the scene of the crime.

Jason Proctor, 33, of Lytham Road, South Shore, pleaded guilty to stealing more than £2,000 of goods in a break-in at the Multi Leisure Ltd shop, Bond Street.

He was sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years with up to 30 days rehabilitation to be supervised by the probation service, put on 12 months drug rehabilitation and ordered to pay £500 compensation by District Judge Jeff Brailsford.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said the owner locked up the shop on January 13. He returned the next morning to find the premises ransacked and a large amount of stock missing.

Putty round a window had been cut out and the window pulled open.

On the shop floor was a receipt with Proctor’s name on.

The items taken included drones, dash-cams, shavers, headphones, vacuum cleaners, sweets and speakers.

The shop laptop and a gold watch were also missing.

Police stopped Proctor as he walked along in central Blackpool carrying a bag. The bag contained the store’s laptop.

Steven Townley, defending, said his client had little recollection of what had happened because of medication he had taken. Proctor said he had only taken the laptop and watch from the shop.

Proctor had been trying to get off class A drugs and at first was prescribed tablets by his doctor.

When those tablets were stopped he feared he would go back to Class A drugs so he started buying Valium-type tablets on the street.

Just before Christmas his father had died and he had started taking more of the pills he bought on the street.

Aidan Ellerker, 22, theft

A father took his two young children with him when he went out to steal and hid stolen goods in the pram.

He was fined £40 with £85 costs and ordered to pay £30 victims’ surcharge by district judge David Purcell.

The judge told him: “This is made more serious because your children were with you at the time.”

Prosecutor, Sarah Perkins, said Ellerker was seen stealing two beef joints and a turkey joint valued together at £50 from Asda, Fleetwood, on December 14.

He paid for some items at the till but the stolen goods were found concealed in the pram.

Qaddus Ahmed, 20, and Eesa Elahi, 22, burglary

Two men accused of a burglary at a young family’s Blackpool home during which a £30,000 car was taken have appeared at court.

The duo are alleged to have broken into the house on Bispham Road and fled in the family’s BMW which was pursued along the M55 by police. The car was later sighted by the police force helicopter crew, abandoned in Freckleton.

Qaddus Ahmed, 20, of Granville Road and Eesa Elahi, a 22-year-old waiter, both of Bradford, are charged with burglary on January 14.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, asked for the case to be heard at crown court.

The defendants were refused bail and remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on February 17 by District Judge Jeff Brailsford.

Simon Merlin, 45, possessing cocaine

A man seen putting items in his mouth had to be taken to hospital after being arrested when he admitted he had swallowed drugs.

He was fined £120 with £85 costs and ordered to pay £30 victims’ surcharge by District Judge David Purcell.

Prosecutor, Sarah Perkins, said police saw Merlin riding a bike in Blackpool without lights on August 19 and stopped him.

Officers noted he put items in his mouth and down his trousers.

When he was searched at the police station a number of wraps of cocaine were found down his trousers. He then had to be taken to the hospital for treatment after he admitted swallowing cocaine.

Muhand Turki, 33, breach of a restraining order, a suspended prison sentence and a community order and failing to answer bail

A failed asylum seeker who made a former work colleague’s life hell by continuing to stalk her has been jailed. Muhand Turki, whose application for asylum had been turned down but who would not be sent back to Syria because of the war, carried on contacting her when a court had ordered him not to.

In a victim’s impact statement Turki’s former work colleague said she had never wanted or had a relationship with him and her life had become a nightmare as the unwanted contact upset and caused her panic attacks.

Turki, 33, of Central Drive, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order, a suspended prison sentence and a community order and failing to answer bail.

He was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay £115 victims’ surcharge by District Judge Jeff Brailsford.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said Turki had been put on an indefinite restraining order which banned him from contacting a former work colleague and a suspended prison sentence, after being convicted of harassing her.

On January 12 the former work colleague said Turki called her. He said “How are you,” and she immediately terminated the call as she recognised his voice.

When interviewed by police Turki said he had inadvertently put the wrong number in at a public phone box when he was trying to call his drug dealer.

Steven Townley, defending, said his client maintained he had accidentally dialled the wrong number.

The defence described Turki as having a very difficult life. His application for asylum had been refused and was not allowed to work or claim benefits and relied on money sent to him by family members.

Von Hung Nguyan, 41, producing cannabis

A Vietnamese man accused of having a cannabis factory where 142 cannabis plants with a street value of tens of thousands of pounds were growing has made his first appearance at court.

Von Hung Nguyen, 41, formerly of Orme Street, Blackpool, now of no fixed address, who had the court proceedings relayed to him by an interpreter, is charged with producing cannabis. He is also accused of illegally abstracting electricity and money laundering £190 from the proceeds of crime. The offences are alleged to have taken place in Orme Street on January 14. Nguyen was remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on February 15.